Tennessee man banned from YMCA after posting locker room photo on Instagram, but he says it's due to his sexuality

Frank Aleman and his friend take a post-workout photo in the locker room of a YMCA in Nashville. (Photo: Frank Aleman via Instagram)

If you don’t take a photo of yourself after you’ve spent at least 45 minutes trying to get swole, did you even work out? Anyone who frequents a gym is probably guilty of a post-workout social media post, so why was this man banned from his YMCA for his?

Frank Aleman posed with his friend in the locker room of the downtown Nashville YMCA and said he was indefinitely banned after posting the picture on his personal Instagram account.

The YMCA does have strict rules about cameras in its locker rooms, but Aleman argues that “the director thought she should set me as an ‘example’” because of other members who have engaged in inappropriate behavior, and called his punishment “unfair” and “clearly very homophobic.”

The facility’s code of conduct bans the “use of any video/picture taking equipment, including camera phones, in YMCA’s shower rooms, locker rooms, and fitness center area,” however, Aleman believes he was made an example of, arguing that many people share photos of themselves in the locker rooms.

“They say that I was a threat to their children because the post was inappropriate, which I’m very confused because it’s an 18 and up locker room where people walk around naked all the time. No children should be in there anyway,” Aleman told local NBC affiliate WSMV. “I understand they do have their no cell phone policies, but plenty of other people take pictures in the YMCA and post them online.”

Aleman’s friend, who was also banned indefinitely, is grabbing himself in the picture, but Aleman says his friend’s pose has nothing to do with him. “I understand it was posted on my personal page on Instagram … [but] I didn’t do anything inappropriate,” he said.

Aleman also suggests that the YMCA is filled with men behaving inappropriately in the showers, family bathrooms, and saunas.

The YMCA of Middle Tennessee said in a statement: “Our policies regarding locker room behavior and camera use are very clearly stated on posted rules signs and exist to ensure the safety and comfort of all members who use the facilities. Unfortunately, it seems that even the private spaces our policies exist to protect may sometimes be selected as the background for a selfie – of a suggestive nature or otherwise. As such, we continue to evaluate our social media monitoring practices and will strive to take the appropriate action whenever we observe or learn of inappropriate behavior or activity that violates our policies.”